This invention relates to a fiber optic cable bend radius management system particularly well suited for use in high density fiber assemblies and frameworks.
In the telecommunications industry there are numerous locations where a significant amount of fiber optic cable must be routed within a facility or from one facility to another. The number of fibers may be great and the fibers must all be handled with great care to avoid damage to the fiber optic cable, which hinders its performance. For instance, it is important to maintain a minimum bend radius to protect the fiber optic cables. A minimum bend radius may for example be one and one-half inches, it may be thirty millimeters (30 mm) or any other standard adopted for a particular fiber optic cable.
Fiber optic cable distribution frames, bays or panels are generally utilized to provide termination, cross-connect, splice, patch and storage interface between fiber-optic cables that lead to user installations.
These bays typically include high density fiber distribution frameworks which include fiber-optic cross connection and/or patching functions or features. Typically, but not always, outside plant (OSP) fiber optic cables are routed into the facility and need to be connected to equipment or to other fiber optic cable.
The increase in use of telecommunication fiber optic cables has brought with it the need to increase the capacity of existing facilities, and the need to increase the density of connections or inter-connections per given area.
As density increases and the vertical spacing between fiber optic connectors decreases, the management of the fiber optic cable and the maintenance of the minimum bend radius becomes more and more difficult due to the geometrical limitations imposed by the decreased vertical spacing of the fiber optic connectors.
FIG. 1 illustrates the problems with the current prior art. FIG. 1 is a side view of fiber optic connectors in a typical prior art fiber optic connector assembly, and shows fiber support guides which do not provide sufficient bend radius protection and further do not provide the minimum bend radius protection for a full ninety degrees of bend, in situations where the vertical spacing between vertically adjacent fiber optic cables or connectors is decreased below a certain distance. The minimum bend protection angle need not be any angle in particular, such as ninety degrees.
In some of the higher density applications in which the center-to-center spacing between fiber optic cables in the connectors is less than the minimum bend radius, the minimum bend radius has not always been maintained.
Embodiments of this invention utilize a combination of a first fiber guide structure and a second fiber guide structure, wherein the first fiber guide structure may, but need not, be dissimilar to the second fiber guide structure. This dissimilarity may be in length, shape, horizontal position and/or orientation.
It is also desirable to minimize the necessary movement of fiber optic cable, including when placing the cable on fiber optic cable supports and fiber guides. In some prior art fiber supports and guides, there are insufficient side walls to assure the fiber optic cables don""t slip or become dislodged from the guide or support. In other prior art fiber supports and guides, such as with fanning strips for instance, there is a sufficient side wall or side guide, but in order to place and remove fiber optic cable onto the guide or support, the cable must be moved up and over the side guide or side wall, thus causing unnecessary displacement of the fiber optic cable.
An embodiment of this invention provides an additional feature of a movable side guide or movable side wall, one which moves from a first position where it acts as a side guide or side wall, to a second position where it is not as much of a side guide or side wall or is not one at all. The ability to move the side guide to a first position to retain the fiber optic cable and to a second position for easy installation and removal of fiber optic cable (with minimum fiber optic cable displacement) better manages and protects the fiber optic cables.